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Monday, July 26, 2010

New England Summer Tour 2010

The tours are a little shorter these days. No more 4 months out at at time as in the past. As I posted earlier, other endeavors such as the online guitar lessons I am giving are taking up some good quality time. http://tinyurl.com/hurricanewilsonguitar Presented by Watch & Learn.

The tour began with a great close to home at The Harbor Club on Lake Oconee in Greensboro, GA. My good friend and very successful restaurant entrepreneur, and owner of the wonderful Troutdale Dining Room in Bristol, TN brought us in for that gig. The next day, I headed out for my first stop in Chambersburg, PA at the Relax Inn at The Orchards Restaurant. Mike and Nick are the greatest there, with their wonderful welcoming hospitality. I usually stop there to play solo on their Wing Night while coming and going to and from the Northeast. While driving there, I actually stopped in Bristol and met Ben and his family for dinner, and to spend the night. Upon leaving Chambersburg, I stopped in Mahwah, NJ to have lunch and a nice visit with my good friend, Rusty Paul, son of the late Les Paul. We had a hard time believing that it is only month away from a year that Les has been gone
. I then moved on to Pearl River, NY to visit with my friend Bob and Ann Lyons for dinner and another rest stop for the night.

Wednesday, July 21 brought me to Smoken Joe's in Boston for a date peforming with bassist Ed Spargo, Alizon Lissance, and Ed Scheer of the Love Dog's. It was a magical musical night, with some great recordings as a result. I then drove on to Moody Beach RV Resort in Wells, ME to perform solo on Thursday. My "Pennsylvania Railroad Band ", Harry Werner and Scott Stump from PA met me at Inn On The Blues in York Beach, ME. The crowd there is always great and the place was rockin'. The next morning on Saturday, I headed out for Sturbridge, MA for a solo acoustic date that night. That resort is a beautiful place, and I was able to hook the trailer up to a nice pond overlook site for a few days while heading back to Maine.

There's no rest for the weary just yet. Back to Boothbay, ME for a show with the band at McSeagull's. Fortunately, I get to stay with my friends, Mike and Dee Kennedyt that own the beautiful Five Gables Inn in East Boothbay, ME. If you ever want the true Maine experience, you MUST stay here. www.fivegablesinn.com
The show at McSeagull's last night was fun. We met some good folks there. Today, the band and I head to Rockland, ME for a show there tonight at the Time Out Pub. We'll report back later on the rest of the tour.






Wednesday

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Summer NAMM Show in Nashville

The show wrapped up today, and while this summer show has become smaller, it was still a great opportunity to network with folks who are fast becoming friends. I made my regular trip brought in by Q Lighting and Burris Amplifiers, with the opportunity to showcase these wonderful amps.

The Friday night show gave me the opportunity to open for John Sebastian and Jimmy Vivino (Conan O'Brien), as well as sitting in with them for a tune. Doing a great job on bass for me was Steve Goodie, who owns and operates Pitch Perfect Recording, where I am currently recording my projects. Steve also MC's the Sunday Night Writers' Nights Studio and the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville. Other BA endorsers performing were Audrey Auld and Will Kimbrough. I always enjoy attending the seminars at NAMM, most notably the ones given by George Hines of George's Music. I've had the pleasure in the past of conducting Blues In The Schools sessions for him, as well as performing at George's Springing The Blues Festival in Jacksonville for several years.

It was great to hang out with my friends and colleagues, the owners of the company that I now teach online guitar lessons for, Watch & Learn, Inc. Bert Casey and Geoff Hohwald made the trip, so scoping out some new opportunites with them was nice.

Taylor Guitars has been great to me as far as keeping my axes up and running. It was a treat to go to lunch with Artist Relations Director, Bob Borbonus, along with legendary Nashville picker Doyle Dykes, and Dillon from the Nashville based Dillon Dixon Band. I also attended a seminar on seeking endorsements by Bob, as well as artist relations guys from Mapex, Yamaha, and Martin Guitars. It was a great trip, but now back to the regular job playing, writing, and recording more music. Until next time. Roger

Friday, May 28, 2010

Looking For Summer 2010

May has been a welcome month for all of us weather-wise, and it's hard to believe that it's almost over. It has been a busy month for me. Some cool gigs such as Darwin's, Sam Huff''s BBQ1, Scooter's Pub, and Wednesdays in Woodfuff Park in Atlanta, which are nice close to home gigs. The Smoke on The Lake Festival in Acworth, GA turned out well for it's furst annual event.
An excursion to attend the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, and a performance at The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville were some great highlights.

A brief Ohio tour took me to The Lounge in Cincinnati, The Sport Zone in Coshocton, OH, and The Brews Too in Granville, OH for a fundraiser for the Columbus Blues Alliance. That tour was rounded off by a wonderful visit with Jorma Kaukonen and his wife Vanessa at their Fur Peace Ranch in Pomeroy, OH. There I was able to observe the group guitar lessons while participating a little in the operation. Meeting and making friends with the students there was also extra special. I hope to get back there again soon.

The online guitar lessons I am currently giving are also keeping me very busy in a good way. If you haven't checked them out yet, you can do that by going to www.tinyurl.com/hurricanewilsonguitar.

This writing over the Memorial Day Weekend has me in Greenville, SC at Chief's, a place I have been performing at for 20 years. A couple of solo shows at a couple of RV parks in both Carolinas will top off the weekend.

June will be fairly busy with some home and away gigs, along with attending the Summer NAMM in Nashville representing Q Lighting and Burris Amps. I hope your Memorial Day is a pleasant one. Please catch me on the road or at home to say hello.

Roger

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Haven't posted much lately but thought I'd try to catch up. There's a lot of great
things happening in my world this year. Since I joined up with an
international music publishing and video company, I just recorded my 20th
online guitar instruction video. I'm writing about 1 or 2 lessons a week
which has really brought everything around full circle, since teaching was
what I did right out of high school in 72 for 15 years, in addiiton to
broadcasting and touring. I've met many new friends all over the world
through this latest endeavor, and it is a wonderful experience. Although I
am still going out on some tours, this opportunity has made it possible to
look at a lot lower number of orange barrels. Also, I don't have to see as
many orange signs that say End Roadwork, which is just a blatant lie anyway.
This week I will fly to Memphis to attend the Blues Awards, and then return
home to play the Smoke On The Lake Festival.
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108899799142425 I do hope to catch up
with some zellers there. Then on Sunday, I'll be heading to Nashville to
play the Bluebird Cafe. Several festivals across the U.S.and Canada, and
more at home than usual are booked this year, so that's a comforting
thought. In July, I'll be touring New England and will shoot a DVD produced
by Paul Benjamin in Rockland, Maine. My "Pennsylvania Railroad Band", Harry
Werner and Scott Stump will join me on bass and drums for that project. The
many solo dates at RV resorts across the U.S. have been like a breath of
fresh air, and are still coming in. Later in December, Willie "Big Eyes"
Smith and I will be heading out on our third duo tour. We're already filling
in dates for that, so any venues interested in jumping in on that, please
let me know. We had some great sold out shows on the last tour. I've been
been recording every gig for the last 6 months, so there will be some live
projects surfacing here and there. I'm also hoping everyone out there
affected by the natural and ecological disasters currently looming over us
will recover unscathed.

Roger

Care to take guitar lessons? Click below.
presented by Watch & Learn
http://tinyurl.com/hurricanewilsonguitar

Roger "Hurricane" Wilson
Bluestorm Records
P O Box 1212
Kennesaw, GA 30156

E-mail: roger@hurricanewilson.com
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Monday, January 18, 2010

The Year 2010

Now 2010 is well underway and so many great things seem to be in store. After celebrating a quiet New Year's Eve at home, I made my way early on New Year's Day down to Montgomery for the annual service at Hank Williams' grave. Hank passed away on new Year's Day in 1953, and after 57 years, his music and legacy are still as strong as ever. My good friend, Jay Johnson, brought an entourage from Cleveland, Ohio on a tour bus labeling themselves, The Honky Tonk Hank Tour. Playing a set with Gary Gentry, songwriter of "The Ride", and talking to Charles Carr, while 17 at the time, was driving Hank to his next booking the night he passed away, were truly highlights. It seemed like a shame to have that day end. It would just be great to be able to freeze time now and then.

January 4 and 5 are always special days, since 4 is my wife's Jolie's birthday, and 5 is my Mom's birthday. Jolie and I went to dinner on her birthday, we had dinner with Mom to celebrate her 92nd on hers. She now lives in a wonderful assisted living home and is doing great. January 7 usually has me reflecting on the anniversary of my first guitar lesson in 1963 that Mom took me to. I was only 9 at the time, and I guess the only reason I remember that date is that my muisc teacher wrote it down in the front of ny first book. January 9 & 10 usually have me thinking of my Dad, who would have been 81 on 9, and his mother's (my grandmother) birthday on 10. My band worked one night on 9 at Scooter's Pub in Kennesaw, GA. After months on the road, it is nice to spend some time at home and have a cool place to play with great people in attendance.

A new and exciting venture for me is that of teaching online guitar lessons for a Georgia Company called Watch & Learn. From all of the music experience I've had from teaching and performing, as well as many years of broadcast experience, this is an opportunity that brings everything together for me. It allows me to teach guitar styles that I love to folks that have an interest in those styles. Unlike the early days of private guitar lessons at a limited location, this now makes the material accessible to people all over the world. You can check out what I'm doing at http://tinyurl.com/hurricanewilsonguitar
If you have a problem with that link, send me an email to roger@hurricanewilson.com, and we'll get it to you.

On January 13, I flew to Orange County, CA. to attend the NAMM (National Association of Musical Merchandisers) Show. It is a massive trade show where the whole music industry comes together for 4 days via manufacturers, retailers, musicans, and industry professionals alike. It is a wonderful and exausting time to network with folks you associate with long distance, but in person for a little while. Highlights for me were hanging with my friends at Taylor Guitars, National Guitars, Olympus Audio, and other companies that I work with. Some seminars with folks such as Quincy Jones, Yoko Ono, and other industry notables set the pace, along with folks I hung with such as Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and acoustic blues artist, Doug McCleod. It will take a number of days to digest all of the information I had gathered, but some great friendships were made. At this writing, I will shortly head to the airport for the trip back to Atlanta, and then in 2 days, will shoot another online guitar lesson, and then head directly to Memphis, TN to judge the International Blues Competition. I'll write about that then. If you would like to correspond, be sure to visit www.hurricanewilson.com.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Northeast & New England

The month of June was a wet one in the Northeast. It seems there is always too much rain or not enough in any area anywhere. Drouts & floods are what we hear about. After performing solo at Kclinger's tavern in hanover. PA on June 11, I had a nice listening audience at The Little Coffeehouse in Camp Hill, PA. The folks that showed up for the performance in Hershey on June 13 were very responsive and a joy to play for. Heading to a resort to perform in Lancaster, PA was very nice, especially being able to park the rolloing motel room right on the river for 3 days. Then playing at my regular stop at the Relax Inn in Chambersburg, PA., it was out to South Jersey for a solo performance there on Friday night. This was the weekend for the annual Knife and Tomahawk Throwing Championship Tournament in NJ. I had to catch a flight from Philadelphia to Kansas City early on Saturday morning to perform with the band, Levee Town at the Parkville, MO. Riverjam, so I missed the blade flying festivities. Unfortunately, I was told that rain put a damper on much of the weekend in NJ. I was right back in NJ a day later. Seems like I was commuting between PA. and NJ several times and trying to avoid Philadelphia traffic most of the time, but still finding myself wrapped up in it. The end of June had me performing between PA., and NJ, and in E. Stroudsburg, PA for a fun time with the band at the Timothy lake North Preserve. At this writing, I am in Boothbay, Maine doing a few solo acoustic perfromances, and prearing for the North Atlantic Blues Festival Pub crawl on Saturday, July 11. Til next time!